Cayetano welcomes junking of disqualification case

Former Foreign Affairs Sectary and Taguig City first district congressional candidate Alan Peter Cayetano on  Tuesday welcomed the decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to junk the disqualification case against him.

This was after Alan was alleged to have committed false material representation when he registered a different home address in his certificate of candidacy from that of his wife Lani, who is also a candidate in the congressional race in the city's second district.

"Salamat sa Diyos na it came out before elections and it's very positive. We were always confident nung legal. Wala pong iligal o imoral sa ginawa namin," Alan told reporters in an ambush interview at the House of Representatives.

"Cover our names, tanggalin mo yung Cayetano, are we not both qualified? Have we not both served Taguig with all honesty? Kami ba may kasalanan sa bayan?" he added.

Petitioner Leonedes Buac Jr. said Alan should be disqualified from his candidacy for failing to meet the residency requirement as the Family Code requires a married couple to live in one legal residence.

But the Comelec, citing previous rulings of the Supreme Court, said that a spouse may abandon a family domicile in favor of a domicile of choice, or remain in the place that the spouses have considered their family domicile.

“In this case, Respondent (Alan) has unequivocally declared his intention to remain permanently at Bagumbayan, notwithstanding his claim that he and his wife [Lani] have transferred their family home, whether legally warranted or not, at Two Serendra," the Comelec said in its ruling.

"It is therefore wrong for [the] petitioner to conclude that Respondent' s domicile is now at Two Serendra merely based on Respondent's claim that they have transferred their family home thereat,” it added.

Alan is convinced that the disqualification case was just a tool for their political opponents to bring them down.

"There's no legal issue because jurisprudence is very clear na iba yung domicile, iba yung residence mo," he said.

There were even earlier instances where spouses have been allowed to represent two separate legislative districts even if they are living under one roof, Alan said.

"Kahit dito naman sa Congress. Ilan ang mag-asawang nandito? Diba si Rod Albano, congressman ng Isabela, wife niya congressman ng Davao, pero dito sila umuuwi sa Quezon City. It's never an issue e," he said.

"Sinensationalize for that but thankful ako sa Comelec na hindi sila nakinig beyond the law books and the jurisprudence," he added. — MDM, GMA News